Advocacy group calls for increased COVID-19 risk mitigation in Manitoba schools
With COVID-19 cases in school-aged children rising across the province, advocacy group Safe Schools Manitoba is calling on the provincial government to increase risk mitigation efforts in the classroom.
Throughout the pandemic, the group, consisting of parents, teachers and community members, has been advocating for vaccinations for children and school staff as well as a mask mandate in schools.
“The third mitigation measure that’s incredibly important and effective is high-quality air ventilation and filtration so that the COVID-19 virus, which we now clearly know is primarily airborne and not spread through the air by droplets, that there are mitigation efforts to stop that transmission in schools,” said Luanne Karn, co-organizer for Safe September.
On Friday, the group set up an information booth at the Manitoba Legislature displaying examples of what they call a “Safe Shared Air Classroom Kit,” which will be delivered to both the premier and ministers of health and education.
The kit includes portable CO2 monitors, portable HEPA filtration units and KN95-type masks for students and school staff.
Safe Schools said the kits are simple and inexpensive measures that can, when layered together, can decrease the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19.
Karn said she was pleased with the provincial government’s Thursday announcement of $6.8 million that can provide HEPA filtration units for about 6,000 classrooms.
“We need them immediately. Christmas presents. Deliver them in December because the winter months are when we have the most recycled air in the classrooms,” Karn said.
Karn also said the use of cloth masks in the classroom offers inadequate protection and wants all students and staff to wear KN95-type masks. She estimates the cost to be around $30 million.
“The number of cases in children under 12 is increasing, the outbreaks in Manitoba schools are increasing, we believe in keeping schools open,” said Karn. “If this government doesn’t implement these measures, we’ll look at more school shutdowns in January.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.